Cerasite
by Imperial Mint
Summary: Thatch has a unique way of decorating drinks in hopes of getting his manager fired, but not everyone is offended by the (penis) patterns. Izo/Thatch. For myladyday.


**Pairing: **Izo/Thatch  
**Notes: **Written for myladydayand a prompt meme on tumblr. The theme for this one was Barista!AU, I hope you enjoy! Feel free to prompt me as well through the link above!

This is also un-betaed so I'd appreciate any mistakes to be pointed out!

**.**

It wasn't as if Thatch hated his job. On the contrary he was very lucky to have it; the pay was decent, his colleagues were (for the most part) nice to work with and it was close to his flat. Sure, a lot of customers weren't particularly nice and his manager was a prick, but it wasn't too bad.

"You're just not working hard enough," sighed his manager through missing teeth. Thatch fought to keep his eyes from looking around the room at the mess of paperwork his manager clearly hadn't done. Everyone said that Teach spent most of the working day surfing porn sites as he obviously never did any actual work.

Thatch left the manager's office and stomped down the stairs, sending a morose look to Whitey. She raised an eyebrow, flicking her blue hair back (and hadn't Teach had a fieldtrip when she'd dyed it, Thach was surprised that he hadn't fired her on the spot).

"You could serve an entire country in an hour and Teach would still say you're not working hard enough," Whitey commented lightly and Thatch nodded. "Has he mentioned anything about your stencils yet?"

A grin spread across Thatch's face and he moved to join Vista at the counter, swiping his custom-made stencils from the counter and returning to Whitey.

"Nope!" he said proudly, handing the small pile over to her. Whitey flipped through them, impressed by the latest one Thatch had had made.

Now, Thatch may not have hated his job, but that didn't mean he didn't hate Teach. No one liked Teach and the idea of the stencils had come to him after one particularly miserable Wednesday when the employees had taken a particularly harsh lashing from Teach.

Shirahoshi had left in tears, though that wasn't too uncommon. Still, Teach had been horrid to her and Thatch had thought of a way to get back at him. The stencils were used to put decorations on hot drinks and while the most used stencil was the outline of waves, Thatch used his own stencils on take-way orders and when he could get away with it.

"Do you have a system when you use them?" Whitey asked and Thatch nodded.

"If I like them, they get the big dick stencil," Thatch said, pointing to the stencil of a large, erect penis. "I normally give them to the ladies too, add a bit of excitement to their day."

Whitey tilted her head. "What if they don't like penises?"

Thatch nodded happily. "Good point! And we go back to why I created these in the first place. I ordered them under the company name so Teach technically has responsibility for them. He never checks down here even though he's supposed to. Having a penis on your drink is something that will get him in deep trouble when a customer complains."

"So your dick stencils are just ways to offend the customer and have Teach fired in a roundabout way?" Whitey nodded to herself, handing the metal stencils back. "I hope it works. No one's complained so far."

That was the biggest problem for Thatch's idea. So far, no one had complained – if they even noticed. Thatch didn't put penises on open drinks as that would be too obvious and the customer would complain right away, but it was evident drinks that were covered weren't being looked at.

The day passed slowly, even with the various rushes. Vista eventually swapped with Thatch and he set to work distributing penises onto drinks. No one returned to the counter in outrage, no one bothered to look inside their cup and see the artfully displayed penis and Thatch turned to clean some of the machines as the crowd lulled in the evening.

The bell rang and Thatch looked up, smiling at the presence of a regular customer. They'd barely talked apart from discussing the weather, but the man – Izō – was a skilled designer (of something or other, Thatch wasn't too good with details) and often met with clients in the coffee shop. He said he preferred this shop as it bumped down the less sincere and snobbish clients.

"Just the usual please," Izō said, shrugging his very nice coat off and smiling. His lips were bright red today, very bold for this season – or so Izō had told him last week.

Thatch set to making his drink, Whitey hovering in the background as Izō moved away to a table.

"Ask him where he got his lipstick from," she hissed in Thatch's ear, eyes narrowed as she looked towards Izō. "It's gorgeous and I know you have a crush on him so use it as an excuse to talk to him."

Thatch turned his head to look at her slowly.

"You always put your nicest penis stencils on his take-out coffees," she said, hand coming to rest on her hip. And, well, it was true on both accounts. He had a little bit of a crush on Izō.

"Teach probably won't want you fraternising with customers," Whitey said, grabbing a cloth and wiping down the counter. "Maybe he'll fire you and you can get him shoved out due to unlawful termination of employment."

It was a little farfetched, but it was all the push Thatch needed. He sauntered out, wiped his hands on his apron (no, they weren't sweaty, just a little damp from… something or another) and came to an awkward stop before Izō.

"Whitey wanted to know what lipstick you were wearing," he said, voice flat. Izō raised an eyebrow, nodding to the chair opposite his and shaking his head slightly.

"I have a spare sample actually," Izō said, reaching for his bag and pulling a sealed tube from it. Thatch took it carefully, wondering if his stay was unwelcome now.

"But she could have come and asked me that. Or just used her own – she's the one who recommended this brand to me after all." Izō smiled, white teeth glinting and Thatch had the distinct feeling he'd just walked into a trap.

"No client today?" Thatch asked quietly and Izō shook his head, sipping neatly at his coffee.

"I'm here on personal business. I love what I do, but sometimes it's nice to have a bit of peace for yourself, and I find this place very peaceful." Izō smiled gently, licking some foam from his lips. Thatch was impressed to see the lipstick held up perfectly.

"It won't come off even if you were to kiss me within an inch of my life," an amused Izō said and Thatch jolted, pushing back a little from the table and shaking his head. Not that he wouldn't like to kiss Izō within an inch of his life, but some tact would be nice.

"It's okay," Izō said secretively. "I had a feeling you liked me."

He was silent for a moment, lip caught between teeth and brows furrowed.

"I like you too. I thought you were a bit odd at first, but Whitey assured me that your… art had deeper meaning." Thatch blinked at that, tilting his head in confusion.

"My art," he said, voice deadpan. "And if one wanted to view… my art then where would one go?"

Izō's lips tilted upwards in a pretty smile.

"Underneath the lids of your coffee cups. You have the most interesting skills when it comes to penises, I've found," Izō said lightly and Thatch nodded slowly, pressing his lips together.

"Thanks for liking my collection of dicks," he said around a grin. Izō wasn't insulted by them, nor was he complaining to the superiors, but Thatch reckoned he could deal with that.

"Maybe you'll have to show me the real deal sometime," Izō said, turning to look out of the window and leaving Thatch to wonder if he'd really said it or if it was just one glorious dream.

"I said that out loud, by the way," Izō said gently, dark eyes warm and welcoming as they returned to Thatch. "I don't just like this place for what I get to drink."

"Does this count as a first date?" Thatch said, moving forwards to lean his elbows on the table. Whitey would call him if he was needed.

"It's not the best first date I've ever been on," Izō said, faux-pouting before smiling. "But the coffee's good and I can't complain about the company." A foot bumped against Thatch's under the table and he grinned.

"I do have a question though. Why penises?" Izō said with a glint in his eye and a tilt of his head and Thatch knew then he'd been keeping this one around for a very long time indeed.

**.**

Reviews are always appreciated, thank you for reading!


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